This invention relates to a stump and wood chipping disintegrator.
Clearing of wooded terrain for building construction or highway purposes has been greatly aided in recent years by the development of practical tree chipping equipment such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,057,192, Re. 31,048 and 3,805,860 and brush chipping equipment as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,602. The trunks, limbs and tops of trees and brush can be chipped for fuel, paper manufacturing, chipboard fabrication and other uses. Alternatively, tree trunks can be separated for making lumber and plywood, while the branches and tops are chipped for fuel or the like.
In copending application Ser. No. 900,448 filed Aug. 26, 1986, and entitled STUMP DISINTEGRATOR is disclosed unique apparatus for processing stumps into chips. This allows on site disintegration into combustible fuel material or the like so as to avoid the undesirable and expensive disposal techniques of stump burning or hauling to landfills.
As noted in the above identified copending application, wood other than stumps can also be processed in the apparatus. Regardless of the form of wood material processed, an anvil is provided to cooperate with the revolving disc and blades for chipping. This effects a fixed surface for restraining the material against rotation and against which the blades act to cause the wood to be chipped.
However, when stumps are chipped, it has been found that, at the end of the ram stroke where the ram is still several inches from the blades, the interconnected radiating root portions of huge stumps will sometimes remain in "spread eagle" position across the face of the disc. Subsequent withdrawal of the reversed ram away from the disc does not necessarily cause this octopus-like structure to break free and tip over, so that the radiating root structure can prevent use of the machine until removed from the disc. Such removal of these huge portions can be difficult and time consuming.
The present invention was conceived and developed to prevent this condition from occurring, or in the event it does occur, to cause the machine itself to remedy the situation. It constitutes an improvement on the apparatus in the noted copending application Ser. No. 900,448 filed Aug. 26, 1986 and incorporated herein by reference.